#3 — Messiah The True Temple Builder
In his Mishneh Torah the Rambam also says Messiah will build the Temple.
Rambam is right again, according to Tenakh: Messiah is the true Temple builder.
We should realize however that Messiah will do much more than merely rebuilding the Temple that was. As the true Temple builder, Messiah is undertaking far more than a mere a building project.
How do we know this?
Zechariah 6 says about the Messiah: “…He shall build the temple of HASHEM; Yes, he shall build the temple of HASHEM” (Zechariah 6:13 New King James Version).
This is an intriguing prophecy! And all the more intriguing if we keep in mind this prophecy was given when Zerubbabel had just started to build the Second Temple. This prophecy functions as a kind of disclaimer about the Temple that was just under construction! That Temple was legitimate. Nevertheless, God is saying that Messiah will build the real and ultimate Temple.
Let’s think about what that means.
What was G-d’s purpose with the Temple and its predecessor, the Tabernacle? G-d said: “Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst” (Exodus 25:8).
And so Moses, Solomon and then Zerubbabel built sanctuaries. G-d’s glory came down in the Tabernacle and Temple.
The Tabernacle and the Temple were a partial restoration of the Garden of Eden. There G-d had been present in a special way. He walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day.
In the Temple, G-d is present on earth again.
But now we are told Messiah Himself is to build the “real Temple.” In other words, Messiah will fully bring G-d’s presence on earth.
In the previous Temple, G-d was enthroned between the Cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:22, Numbers 7:89, 1 Samuel 4:4, 2 Samuel 6:2). It was as it were G-d’s throne on earth. There the Shekinah was present in a special way.
However, Jeremiah prophesied that the Ark of the Covenant shall not be made anymore (Jeremiah 3:16). That may sound bad but it isn’t. The reason that the Ark of the Covenant shall not be made anymore is positive: “At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of HASHEM” (Jeremiah 3:17).
If all of Jerusalem replaces the Ark of the Covenant, we have an enormous expansion of the temple. That is the temple which the Messiah will build!
In the Torah it was the high priest who was wearing a golden plate with the inscription “Holy to HASHEM” (Exodus 28:36). In the new Jerusalem where HASHEM reigns, even the bells of the horses will have the engraving “Holy to HASHEM” (Zechariah 14:20).
If even such ordinary things as the bells of the horses will reach such a level of holiness, how holy a place will Jerusalem be?
It is the Jerusalem that will be called: “HASHEM is there” (Ezekiel 48:35). It is the Jerusalem of which Isaiah prophesied: “The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but HASHEM will be your everlasting light, and your G-d will be your glory” (Isaiah 60:19).
Yes, Messiah will be the real and ultimate Temple builder. But when we look into it what that fully means, it entails nothing less than bringing G-d’s presence on earth; it is nothing less than reuniting heaven and earth.
Who is this Messiah and what will he do to make this possible?
Some think the temple referred to in Zechariah 6:12 is the temple described in the vision of Ezekiel 40-42. It is a question though if this vision of Ezekiel was meant as a prediction. It could also rather be an instruction for building the temple again after the Babylonian exile (especially Ezekiel 43:9-12 seems to indicate this).
If such an understanding of Ezekiel 40-42 is correct the instructions have simply not been followed fully. It is possible though, that a temple with the dimensions described in Ezekiel will also still be built by the Messiah. But if so, that temple is only a step on the way towards the final temple, as the prophesies of Jeremiah and Isaiah go beyond the description of Ezekiel 40-42.
The ultimate temple will encompass the entire earth with an enormously expanded Jerusalem as it’s holy of holies. Messiah will unite heaven and earth.